What if your corner bar operated like a stock exchange? Well now it can, thanks to The Unstabalizer:

The Unstabalizer is an interactive, social application system, to be used in bars, clubs or any other location or event which sells different types of alcohol. Unlike regular bars where the prices of drinks are static, the Unstabalizer can turn a bar into a dynamic, self-organizing system similar to a stock exchange – The Unstabalizer: your local bar operates like a stock exchangeThe price of a drink (a “stock”) is set based on demand – The more people buy a certain drink, its price will rise, causing the prices of other drinks in this alcoholic stock market to fall. The owners and organizers use the system to set the initial prices and can also set minimum prices, to avoid loss due to “market dynamics”. But it is during the bar’s activity period that the real drinking interaction occurs as prices fluctuate based on alcohol consumption – Sometimes beer will be low and Whiskey high, but then as people rush to buy beer, it’s price will rise, causing the price of Whiskey to drop.

The system is built as a distributed Flash application. It consists of one central “Exchange” component, which centralizes the price dynamics, and several “Broker” components, which are placed next to the registers. The “Exchange” component’s Flash interface is used to input the initial prices and later to display the dynamic alcoholic stock market using engaging graphics and Flash animations. The “Broker” components’ Flash interface is used to accept requests based on people’s alcoholic desires. The requests are sent to the “Exchange”, which in turn recalculates all alcohol prices, refreshes the stock market screen and sends back the current price, which is then printed on a receipt. The receipts are handed at the bar in exchange for drinks and the dynamic price on the receipt is the one punched in the real register. Then money is collected and change is returned. The “Exchange” component can handle simultaneous “Broker” updates and synchronize prices accordingly.
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Via We Make Money, Not Art